Review ~ Marriage by Design series by Elley Arden

Elley Arden is back with a new sexy and emotional romance that will make you cry and swoon, all at the same time, with MARRIAGE BY DESIGN, book 2 of the Designing Love series.

When carpenter Angie Corcarelli goes steel-toe boot to high-polished loafer with her best friend’s ex, construction engineer Stuart Perrault, sparks fly in Elley Arden’s latest Designing Love novel, Marriage by Design.

About MARRIAGE BY DESIGN:

Family first. That motto led Angie Corcarelli to become a carpenter and take over the family construction business when she was barely out of her teens. And now it’s leading her into battle against her best friend’s ex. Stuart Perrault and his swanky, family-run construction engineering firm have been tapped to oversee a highway project that includes demolishing a stretch of row homes. Over her dead body will it come to that.

Stuart Perrault knows a thing or two about family allegiance. For the past fifteen years, he’s been working alongside his brother and father, dreaming about the day he’d be named CEO of the Perrault Group. But then came the bridge debacle in Paris. And now his dream seems a little further away. As he fights his way back to the top of the company, he isn’t about to watch another project fall apart just because his ex-girlfriend’s best friend is a loose cannon.

When Stuart’s father insists he take Angie out to dinner and neutralize things, he obliges. But has he bitten off more than he can chew? Angie isn’t at all what he expected, and his usual self-control doesn’t seem to work when he’s around her.

The more time Angie spends with Stuart, the harder it is to see him as the bad guy she’d believed him to be. But falling for each other would mean going against their respective families. Are they strong enough for that?

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Also in the Designing Love series: BABY BY DESIGN

Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness.

Charming characters. Emotional stories. Sexy romance.

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My Thoughts:

This is the second book in the Designing Love series. The first book, Baby By Design was great and I couldn't pass up the chance to review this book.

 

In Marriage By Design, we see the main characters from the first book, Trish and Tony. The focus however is on Trish's best friend and Tony's sister Angie and Trish's ex and Tony's bane of existence, Stuart.

 

Angie is a darn good carpenter. She runs the company that was her father's before he died. She is extremely emotional, temperamental, loyal, spunky, talented, driven, fiesty, and quite possibly a tad unstable. ;-) I loved her!

 

Stuart was a good guy. I didn't care for him in the last book but he redeemed himself quickly as I was reintroduced to him in this book. I felt bad for him though because he got the short stick when they were drawing for parents. His Dad was awful. 

 

Long story short, Angie and Stuart end up fighting over a set of row houses. She wants to buy them and fix them up for a totally admirable reason. He on the other hand, has been contracted to tear them down and put a highway in that space. He is driven by his father to handle any issues including Angie or else!

 

At first the two get together because of the insistence of Stuart's Dad. As they spend more time together they realize that they may not know each other as well as they thought. They have such a strong connection and attraction whether they are fighting or doing the horizontal mambo. ;-)

 

The family bonds that the characters cherish and nurture is one of the things that I love most about this series. The characters share banter and have no problem sharing their thoughts with each other when the need arises! The characters are wonderful. :-)

 

In the pages of this book you will find love, romance, drama, some guilt, scheming, lots of designing, and characters that will grab you and not let go.

 

If you like romances or a set of characters with a great sense of family, you should read both of these books. You could read this one first but then you'd miss the beginning and you don't want to miss out!

 

I received an ecopy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion. Another home run! It was just as enchanting. I read it in two sittings. Only because I fell asleep while reading, otherwise it would have been one!

 

 

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